Ryū Ko Niban (Tiger and Dragon No. 2: Dragon)

A woman with an elaborate coiffure sits at a koto, one hand resting on the instrument, dressed in a dark blue kimono patterned with a white geometric (key-fret) motif over a red and white plaid under-robe. A large green dragon coils around her, its scaled, striped body arcing overhead and its whiskered head with bared teeth resting beside the koto in the lower right; pine boughs and rocky, patterned outcrops fill the background against the print's warm tan ground. Columns of Japanese text occupy the upper left, with a red seal in the upper right; this is Ryū Ko Niban (Tiger and Dragon No. 2: Dragon) by Yajima Gōgaku, 1820, color woodcut, 20.7 x 18.3 cm.